from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

Next up for the Leafs Tuesday night are the Tampa Bay Lightning, currently on pace to register the most points by any NHL club in a single season since the salary cap was instituted.

That may be as amazing an achievement as what the Knights are doing. Putting together a truly special team has become nearly impossible in today’s NHL. The salary demands of young players skyrocket so quickly these days that rosters can only be kept together for two or three years, and if the timing isn’t right for when players come off their entry-level deals while others hit unrestricted free agency, it can be nearly impossible.

Somehow, Steve Yzerman has managed to do this rather brilliantly in Tampa, building a team of quality veterans — Steve Stamkos, Victor Hedman — and outstanding young players such as Brayden Point and Mikhail Sergachev. The Bolts also have the NHL’s leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov, and a leading contender for the Vezina Trophy in 23-year-old goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Coming into Toronto, the Lightning are on pace for a 125-point season, which would be the most in the cap era (Chicago was on pace for 133 in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, but played only 48 games). With below-market, long-term deals in place with both Stamkos and Hedman, a Norris Trophy favourite this season, the Tampa situation looks sustainable for the foreseeable future.

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